Like many of the best ideas, it all started in a pub.

Over 18 years Weyfest has grown into an award-winning festival that attracted thousands of fans and a superb line-up of artists.

But after seeing off Covid and numerous blows, organisers realised the party was ending in Tilford amid an announcement from their hosts 11 days before the festival began.

The tone changed on August 5 when the Rural Living Life Museum announced it needed to raise £150,000 to stay alive as it battled with rising energy costs and reduced visitor numbers.

The announcement caught Weyfest organisers off-guard and “turned their world upside down” with bookings, preparations and artwork for the 2025 event already well underway.

Weyfest relies on advance ticket sales as a financial buffer. With sales taking a hit and no secure venue guaranteed, with a heavy heart the Weyfest team were forced to pull the plug for the forseeable future.

It’s not just revellers who will miss out as it provides a huge boost to the local economy through visitor spending.

The RLLM appeal is going well with £63,000 donated ahead of the October 31 deadline while collections during the four-day event raised around £7,000. But that does little in the way of saving Weyfest.

The Weyfest team continue to look into alternatives citing other grassroots festivals and their crowdfunding systems as examples. The festival may yet return with enough support, but significant extra work and expenditure will be needed.

“Weyfest survived foot and mouth in 2007, a global pandemic in 2020 and we thought we could survive anything,” said organisers in an emotional statement.

“Sadly the RLLM's announcement proved a bridge too far!

“You Weyfesters are an amazing bunch and to think Weyfest 2024 could be the last for the foreseeable future just breaks our hearts.”